Eccentric glamour marks an original talent of lasting influence.
“I have no time for boring furniture, boring fabrics or boring people.” – Rose Cumming
Rose Cumming was an ordinary Australian girl that came to New York in 1917. Not knowing which jobs fit her the best she searched for advice from a friend, Frank Crowninshield, the editor of Vanity Fair who suggested her to be a decorator. In her innocence, this today-world-renowned-decorator simply said, “Perhaps I would, but first tell me what it is”.
Can you believe it? Who could tell that the women that is a reference in the interior design world and the person to beat in many aspects, didn’t even know what the profession was. Rapidly, she caught up with the trade and revolutionized the decorating business by opening a New York shop, offering decorating services and merchandise to make it all happen. Hard to believe, but a revolutionary thought at the time!
Her shop was at a street-level with high ceilings and colossal windows on the famous Upper East Side. Other innovative idea from this woman was leaving the shop lights on at night, recognizing the heightened visibility that provided her with. She brought color to chintz, to the more informal rooms, she invented metallic wallpaper and with their highly polished surfaces of color and texture, her rooms glowed.
One could say that she was, in her whole, an extravagant person and with a behavior to match, purple hair, enormous hats, and an original wit and outspokenness made her a formidable and legendary New York presence. Because of that her shop became a fabulous stopping place for names like the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Andy Warhol, Rudolph Nureyev, Jacqueline Onassis, and Babe Paley.
Nowadays, her great-niece Sarah Cumming Cecil, President and Principal Designer at Rose Cumming, continues the family design tradition. And if you’re an absolute fan of Rose, there’s a chance for you to keep one small part of her legacy with you. The publisher Rizzoli and the author Jeffrey Simpson have released a new book on this heroine of history Rose Cumming: Design Inspiration. Or you can always by a special Rollover by the artist Jeremiah Goodman – Rose Cumming New York City Sitting Room.